St. Pete Senator Takes a Leadership Role on Protecting Taxpayer's Money

Newly electe Senator Charlie Justice (D-St. Petersburg) is sponsoring a bill to prevent local governments could not spend public funds in favor or against a ballot item, and could not pay anyone to run such a campaign. At present, local governments are allowed (and frequently do) to spend taxpayer money to campaign for or against ballot initiatives. Justice's bill would prevent this behavior.

He is also sponsoring legislation to make it illegal for local governments to sue each other and another to outlaw the practice by cities of using state-owned land to make it easier to grab adjacent private property in annexations.